


Love bites

by The_Devils_Palace



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Hurt/Comfort, Lovebug AU, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Poison, cuddle or die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:27:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28350867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Devils_Palace/pseuds/The_Devils_Palace
Summary: Witchers are told from a young age not to form bonds with short-lived beings.  Mutagens gave Witchers bodies physical abilities beyond that of their human counterparts, they reduced their fear and improved their senses...but they did not give them the emotional strength to cope with an extended life time's worth of loss.Geralt didn't intend to get close to Jaskier...or develop feelings for him, the bard just had a talent for getting under people's skin. He also didn't intend to get bitten by an insect whose poison gave him an unbearable desire to be physically close to Jaskier. But here he was...
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45
Collections: Bards of Geraskier Secret Santa 2020





	Love bites

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jadelyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadelyn/gifts).



> This is my BOG Secret Santa gift for Jadelyn! I hope you like it ^^
> 
> I adore Lovebug AUs and I want there to be more of them! Hope you also enjoy it :D

Geralt was exhausted. It hadn’t been a particularly difficult fight, just long. The contract was for an Endrega colony in a particularly dark and dank part of the forest in Upper Sodden. He had killed the queen and cleared out the colony of cocoons. His body ached, and he was covered in sweat, blood and viscera. He dragged his tired, heavy body back to where he had left Roach and began the slow process of cleaning himself off while still miles from civilization.

Slowly, he set up camp; building a fire, setting up his bedroll and making himself a small meal out of what few supplies he had left. Over the years he had become very accustomed to his own company. Alone he could set things up as he wanted them, at his own pace, without interruption or having to consider the needs of others. But, life alone was...just that alone. His life became monotonous, any joy easily seeping out with the dull repetition of the days. It was boring, and Geralt had found he hated boring. 

That was partly why Geralt had let the bard travel with him to start with. Jaskier was annoying, for sure, but he was never boring. He brought adventure and trouble in equal measure. Whatever he inevitably ended up being dragged into, whether it was exciting or unpleasant, was always a good story to tell afterwards. Not that he would tell Jaskier that, that would only encourage him.

Their times travelling together came and went. In the beginning, Geralt often thought each time they parted would be the last, hoped it sometimes if Jaskier had led him into a particularly shit situation. But, the bard would always turn back up somewhere, with a smile, a song and some kind of nonsense to drag them both into. After a while Geralt found himself missing him if they had been apart too long, found himself seeking the bard out rather than the other way around. 

It was a dangerous game in some ways. Witchers were told from an early age not to get too attached to humans. They were short-lived and vulnerable and their inevitable deaths ultimately would take their toll. The mutagens gave Witchers bodies physical abilities beyond that of their human counterparts, they reduced their fear and improved their senses...but they did not give them the emotional strength to cope with an extended life time's worth of loss. It was better to get close to those who shared their extended life span. Humans should be kept at arm's length, even close friendship with them was advised against. Most Witchers had at some point made the mistake of befriending a human at some point only to very quickly be shown why they were told it was a bad idea. 

When Geralt was young he remembered watching some of his fellow young Witchers come back from the path, distraught at the loss of a human friend, or Gods forbid a lover. They were met with chiding words and ‘I told you so’ in the case of a human friend and in the case of a lover they were met with scorn and derision. Geralt himself had been arrogant enough to think it would never happen to him until Blaviken. After that, he knew not to let himself get too close.

At first, with Jaskier, Geralt tried to reassure himself that it was just because he was bored and lonely. The bard was one of the few people outside of his fellow Witchers that actively sought out his company, and any friendly face was welcome on the Path. For Gods forbid, they were few and far between some years. 

To begin with, Geralt found the bard’s seemingly incessant need to immortalise a flowery and sanitised version of him in song a nuisance. Geralt assumed the bard was doing it for his own acclaim. He didn’t like that Jaskier changed the events to make them sound more poetic, so he was purposefully stingy with the details. It wasn’t until he saw Jaskier get into quite a nasty bar brawl that he began to understand that Jaskier didn’t just write those songs to raise his own profile.

They had been in a particularly backwater village in South Temeria, Geralt had forgotten the name now. The locals had been very suspicious of Geralt, their stares and hushed words had given him a notable sense of unease. But, they had gone to the tavern and Jaskier had gone about his usual routine until one of the patrons had started heckling one of his songs about Geralt. Jaskier had stopped instantly and shouted back and the situation had devolved pretty quickly from there.

Outside afterwards Geralt had asked him why he would cause such a scene over a song. Jaskier had looked him dead in the eyes and told him that it wasn’t about the song, that it was about them seeing Geralt as less than human and how that made him angry. He told Geralt that he was one of the best men he knew, without a flicker of insincerity on his face. Geralt had been stunned, he hadn’t really known how to take it, so he had just grumbled and stopped talking about it.

After that, he began to look at Jaskier’s songs in a completely new light. Now, he understood that he wasn’t trying to gain notoriety by singing about a Witcher. Jaskier was trying to get his audiences to think differently about Witchers...to think differently about Geralt. 

The realisation caused Geralt to start to feel warm, protective feelings towards the bard. He had never had a human care so deeply about his humanity and wellbeing and he would protect it with all he had. They started travelling together more regularly from then on, only parting ways when they had business in different places. They always parted ways with a plan to meet again after their business was completed. Geralt tried to reassure himself that yes, it was ill-advised to befriend a human, but they were just friends. Their friendship was one of his few comforts and he was prepared to pay the price of suffering its loss later to be able to experience it now. 

It was around this time that Geralt started to find himself noticing things about the bard, things he wouldn’t normally notice about a friend. Like how nice his eyes looked when he smiled or how good he smelt just after a bath or how he always looked at Geralt with the kind of warmth that humans rarely showed him. It took him months to realise that what he was doing was pining. How pathetic for a Witcher to pine after someone, especially when he knew the dangers of pining after a human. It was bad enough that Geralt had allowed himself a human friend at all. Geralt knew this, yet still his heart yearned for it to be something more. He tried his best to simply act naturally and tried to be the best friend he could to the bard, even if this did involve rescuing from castration at the hands of an angry husband or wife far too often. 

He honestly hated when that happened, it was one thing knowing Jaskier was taking lovers that were not him, it was another thing to see it. But, Jaskier was his friend...and Geralt wanted to be a good friend, so he helped him out every time. Each time it was accompanied with a sinking feeling of knowing he would never know what it would be like to share that kind of intimacy with Jaskier. He was only in Sodden because he had joined Jaskier for part of his journey to play at a festival in a town a few miles outside of this forest. They had plans to meet in a few days. Geralt was secretly dreading it because festivals often meant that Jaskier went out seeking company. He knew he shouldn’t care who Jaskier shared his bed with, but he couldn’t help longing that it was his bed that the bard was sharing.

Committing himself to keep their bond to just friendship did not, however, stop Geralt’s thoughts. He often found himself thinking what it would feel like to run his fingers through his hair, what his body would feel like pressed to his. He caught the thoughts most of the time, but occasionally they would slip into his dreams and for the length of his slumber he could pretend he knew what holding Jaskier would feel like. 

Geralt sighed as he lay back on his bedroll. Sleep would likely not come easy tonight despite his physical tiredness. The swampy forest was so alive with the sounds of insects, amphibians and birds that it seemed to pulse with the hum of it even at night. The constant noise caused Geralt’s sensitive hearing to be constantly on alert. He cleared his mind and tried meditating instead, focusing on the sounds and their rhythm, trying to let them lull him to sleep. 

He stayed that way until the early hours when the early summer sun started to filter through the dense foliage. He had been drifting on the edge of sleep his mind only vaguely aware of his surroundings until a sharp piercing pain in his left forearm brought him back to full alertness. He jerked his arm up to see a large crimson insect with its protruding mouthparts sunk into his arm. It was a very unusual looking insect that Geralt did not recognise. He swatted at it and it let go and fell to the floor beside him. The bite stung and Geralt swore loudly, looking down at the offending insect as its wing casings opened and it flew off into the forest. This was why Geralt hated damp, dank forests like this, always full of things trying to eat you no matter what their size.

He looked at the insect bite. It was already red and swollen and had started to throb painfully. Geralt swore again as he got up and riffled through one of Roach’s saddlebags until he found his medical supplies. He found a balm made from lemon balm and witch hazel which he carefully applied to the bite before wetting a clean cloth and pressing it to the bite. Hopefully, a cold compress would help with the swelling. He raised his arm and sat that way for several long minutes. The pain did not reduce, in fact, it seemed to get worse, also he was starting to feel...strange. He couldn’t quite find words for what it felt like. A kind of wrongness that crept through him. He felt lightheaded with it. He quickly rummaged again in his medical supplies eventually finding what he was looking for, a bottle of Golden Oriole. Judging by the increased pain and the strange feeling, the insect bite was poisonous, so Golden Oriole should hopefully negate the effects.

Geralt drained the potion, the bitter taste making him wince. He felt the potion flood his system, making his skin prickle and his stomach churn. He carefully took in several slow deep breaths trying to gather himself. Between the toxicity of the potion and the poison’s effect, he felt lightheaded. His arm was throbbing, the pain was still becoming greater. He tried to empty his mind and wait for the potion to take effect and combat the pain. His whole world narrowed to breath and pain. He waited, and waited, the pain remained a constant. 

A wave of unease rose through Geralt. Whatever this was it wasn’t a usual poison and he was alone in these infernal woods. He got unsteadily to his feet, he needed to get out of here. Geralt haphazardly packed his few possessions back onto Roach, the exertion making him feel even more lightheaded. He slumped back against a nearby tree, his arm throbbing. He felt nearly delirious with the pain. His mind had started to feel disjointed, his eyes couldn’t focus and he found he couldn’t quite remember what he had been doing. 

He couldn’t quite grasp what was happening, but he forced himself to sort through the hazy mess of thoughts. He had been bitten, poisoned by some kind of insect. He needed to get out of here, he needed a healer, he needed something to help with the pain...but there was something else. Something else he needed to do. He forced his mind to focus once again and managed to grasp at something, he needed to meet Jaskier. Jaskier...now that was a thought. As soon as the bard floated into his mind it was like his mind was on fire. Jaskier. He needed him. Needed to find him. Needed him close. He pushed himself off the tree and stumbled forward. He knew what he needed now, and he plunged into the forest blindly. He would find Jaskier somehow. He had to.


End file.
